HIGHLIGHT REEL
leading design teams for 10 years, with another 6 years of IC work, focused on fintech, business enablement, and social
consistently build strong relationships with Product leadership and partner in strategic decision making
I have pitched and executed product initiatives that have resulted in billion-dollar valuations. I like to measure success in multiples, not percentages
as a manager I have zero instances of regrettable turnover, building high-functioning, healthy teams
For AOP 2024, I pitched an overhaul of our new user onboarding experience. This was on the heels of an LLM-based launcher that had increased conversion by 21%. The logic I proposed was that most users didn’t know exactly what sort of database app they need, or how to describe it, and therefore a wizard-based approach with a human-made template would yield better results.
I outlined the strategy and defined the steps and branch logic in the onboarding. I worked closely with a direct report through research and design. (I did not design the UI shown here). Notably, this was a project that began with no PM and was never granted engineering resources, but yielded the best results of any project of the year.
During an A/B test with 1,766 new users, the new design-led onboarding flow resulted in an 87% increase in SQO’s (sales qualified opportunities), and an 89% reduction in build time for a user to launch an app, from 23 hours to 1 hour, 50 minutes.
I also created an integrated AI product strategy for the company.
At Plastiq, I drafted a product and brand strategy, got buy-in from the CPO and CEO, and presented it to the entire company to get alignment ahead of our IPO (which was sadly canceled due to market conditions).
I created these UI mocks for initial buy-in
At Credit Sesame I collaborated with the COO on M&A strategy. We acquired a neo-banking startup and I led the product integration into our core credit product.
At the same time, I launched and managed a new research organization. Among our early findings, 65% of returning users were only logging in to check their credit score. I led the redesign of our core product to offer more data density and highlight new offerings.
I led the strategy to launch a secured card, our first in-house product to improve credit, leading data science and user research efforts to determine pricing, product & design strategy. Within product marketing, research and design insights yielded a 2x increase in conversion.
I was incentivized to work at IMVU as it was the company Eric Ries founded and wrote about in The Lean Startup.
(The product and app preceded me, don’t blame me for the UI ;)
At IMVU I led a large team, including UX and Research, across 8 different products. During my time there I led the architecture, strategy, and design for a new consumer mobile app and a new desktop creator app.
One of my core beliefs as a design leader is to refocus on the core strengths of a product, advice shared in The Lean Startup. IMVU’s strength was offering a customizable visual identity to users, and helping them find people to connect with. I proposed and mocked (image shown) an initiative to give new users 24 choices of avatar (instead of only 2), and place them in themed chat rooms. The result of this new onboarding increased D7 ARPU by 243%.
Tango, once upon a time, was a contender in the messaging wars, alongside whatsapp, snap, et al. In losing that war, the product became a sad, ad-supported, mish mash of communication tools.
However, originally its claim to fame was being the first iOS + Android supported video chat app to utilize a front facing camera. Its video streaming underpinnings were top notch. Again, focusing on strengths, I proposed a new feature to offer 1-to-many video broadcasts, supported by in-app purchases and gifting to live streamers. This feature launched Tango from single digit millions in revenue to $100M+ annually in less than two years.
What Else?
I like to solve problems, that’s what gets me going in the morning. I’m motivated by work when the work is energetic and challenging. I believe in making a positive impact on the world. Perhaps unusually, I feel that finance is a primary means to this, alongside personal wellbeing. I consider myself a right-brain + left-brain person and have a degree in both Design Strategy and an MBA. I’m an effective leader because I bring both to the table.